Japan backs US proposal to target North Korea's oil supplies

Seoul, Tokyo

JAPAN backed a US push for the United Nations Security Council to vote on Monday on fresh sanctions against North Korea, saying that Kim Jong Un's nuclear programme poses the most serious threat since World War II.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera on Sunday urged tougher sanctions including curbing oil supplies to North Korea.

He warned that the regime's advances in missile technology are complicating Japan's ability to intercept them.

"Japan's security environment including North Korea is increasingly grave - perhaps it's the most serious state in the post-war period," Mr Onodera told public broadcaster NHK.

"If North Korea-bound oil, mainly coming from China, decreases - through pressure by the international communi…